Laidlaw praises Scotland effort

Scotland matched their illustrious opponents - who made 13 changes from last weekend's win over England - for much of the game, with victory for the All Blacks only assured through Jeremy Thrush's late try.

With 10 minutes remaining, the home side had the chance to move 19-17 ahead, but Laidlaw sent his penalty from the left-hand side narrowly wide of the posts, before the world champions showed their ruthless streak once again.

Victory means New Zealand are yet to taste defeat against Scotland, with 28 wins and two draws from their 30 encounters.

Despite the defeat, Laidlaw was pleased with the way he and his team-mates had performed.

"It's tough to take when you come so close against a tough team," he told BBC Sport. "All credit to the All Blacks, they played for 80 minutes.

"The boys stuck at it, I thought we played some fantastic rugby but obviously we're disappointed. We've got to look at the positives and take them away from this game.

"We had a good win against Argentina last week and a solid performance tonight but we've just come up slightly short in front of a great crowd at Murrayfield.

"It's great for us to play here and hopefully the fans are proud of us today. The boys gave 100 per cent and put bodies on the line but we came up a little bit short."

Thrush, meanwhile, paid tribute to New Zealand's fighting qualities as they battled their way to yet another triumph.

"It was tough," he said. "They're a passionate bunch, we knew they were going to come out strong and we held in there which is good.

"Every time we put the jersey on it's a privilege and it's a proud moment so we really want to go out there and give it our best.

"We looked at them from last week and they had a good win so we knew they were going to come out and do the same thing. They played some great stuff but we held in there."